Searching

Well, here's something strange to look at! I absolutely know I cannot draw and I don't even know if I want to learn but Kelly Rae Robert's book, Taking Flight, inspired me to give it a try. Trying to find my voice is such a struggle!! Many years ago I tole painted in a folk art style that was roughly based on Bauernmalerei. When I had a blank piece in front of me I knew EXACTLY what to do. I had a style. I painted and people paid and that was that. I lived in a different world then; one where I didn't have what people consider a "real" job. Painting helped pay the bills and allowed me to stay home with my young children. I am really not sure I care to go back to that world. You get caught up in making what people want and making money and some of the creativity is lost. But I digress...
Since I have discovered mixed media and altered anything and outsider art I LOVE, LOVE LOVE the genre but I struggle to find my voice. There are so many talented artist out there and I read the books and I "try on" their styles, but nothing emerges as truly MINE. I know this is a passing fad, just like the tole painting I did in the 80s, so I'm not even sure I want to go back down that road of making things to make money. If it doesn't make money then what's the point (that's my Norwegian side). Making art for art's sake is admirable (that's my Irish side). There must be some happy middle ground!
I am currently using Lisa Sonora Beam's book "The Creative Entrepreneur" to see if I can figure out what it is I really want to do with the art.
To be continued......
BTW, the numbers represnt beers. I thought #4 looked like Tina Turner gone wrong but my son says it looks like a transvestite.

Life in the Grownup World

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I posted. A funny thing happens when life collides with art. Life wins! Or at least it did this time. I suppose some would say you shouldn't let that happen but the reality is that women fill many roles; wife, mother, grandmother, granddaughter, daughter-in-law, friend and worker. I feel grateful that the people I love value me enough to need me. I also know that the art will build inside me until it reaches a fever pitch where I can't go one more minute without letting it out and the ideas will come fast and furious. When that moment comes I will be in that zen place where the ideas are just right there in the front of my mind. I can hardly wait!

Daydream

This was a day filled with emotion at our house. Our sewer had to undergo an emergency colonoscopy this morning. The symptoms had increased over the past week and this morning there was a violent eruption on the patio that couldn't be ignored any longer. Professionals were called in and after several hours of exploratory surgery the cause of the blockage was revealed. We held hope that arthroscopic surgery could purge the polyp but the tumorous root of the problem had grown much too large (damn maple tree!). A stiff shot for the owners, a large check and a jackhammer appear to be the last best hope for saving the patient. The backhoe arrives at 7:00am tomorrow...
This is a page from my altered book that I was working on today to distract myself from the trauma. I'm not sure if it is finished or not.

Bird Shrine

My son came over and gave me some coaching on my pictures (thank you Casey!) so I have gone back and re-done them all and I think they look a little brighter now. Lifelong learning....
This bird shrine is made from a saltbox. Yes, the "when it rains it pours" stuff. Linda Warlyn's article in the May/June 2008 issue of Somerset Studio was my inspiration. I have collected vintage porcelain bird figurines for years and probably have more than 50 by now. I love my little birdies!
This weekend they are predicting NO RAIN and maybe high 60s!! Every day I pull into the driveway and think "that woman who lives here really should do something about that flowerbed!". I am so excited about spending some zen time in my garden!
The library finally got in a copy of Susan Tuttle's Exhibition36 and I can hardly wait to read it. I flipped through it while I was waiting in line and this might be one of those I will need to own. OMG...! What if the weather was so nice I could garden a little, sit in the sun and look at my book, garden a little, look at the book... Bliss!

Seducing the spring sun

This was a daunting week for me. The chaos of lots of company throwing me off my comfortable routine, a (thankfully!) brief bout with some little cold or allergy and our “test” system at work going unavailable which left me dead in the water for most of the projects I’m working. Then my friend Carol gave me her March 2009 issue of The Oprah Magazine with an article called “The Storyteller” book marked for me on page 153. OMG! I rarely read books anymore because I spend what little free time I have playing in my art room. Sandra Cisneros! Who knew! Her take on life and art rocked my world. She put her priorities and goals in order at a young age and, most importantly, gave her self the permission to be who she is. It is easy to say things like “follow your dream” and “be true to yourself” but I think it is the rare individual who finds life balance and manages to make a living, balance work and personal goals and still hang onto who they really are. I will read this story again and again. Thank you Sandra! BTW… be sure and visit her website at http://www.sandracisneros.com/. There is a link to an excerpt from the Oprah article on her homepage and her website is great fun. Be sure to check out the “Button Box”. I swooned! Ebaying buttons was the beginning of my Internet experience and I didn't have just a button box, I had a button TRUNK. I had a suitcase full that I could barely lift and those were just the ones I didn't care about and hauled in to the office so my co-workers could paw through them. This woman is a writer PLUS she likes buttons, old typewriters, occupied Japan porcelain and has the soul of a collage artist!
So about the picture in this post…
This view is right next to my driveway so I see it each morning and each evening as I pull in and out. The emerging bulbs give me hope that we will be released from the worst Winter I can remember in years. I think Sandra would say something like…. “The ripe, swollen daffodil lost patience for the warmth of Spring to reach down through the damp, dusky scented earth so it pushed upward, breaking free from it’s Winter prison, lifting it’s just-born face skyward, seducing the Spring sun to come closer”. Yes, I’m certain she would say something like that.

I might look at the old typewriters when I make my weekly pilgrimage to the Volunteers of America store.....

Watercolor inchies

I haven't posted in a while since I've had houseguests. My mother-in-law was here to visit, taking a break from caring for her invalid husband, and of course the kids and granddaughter were all over to see Grandma. It was a busy week and topped it off with getting a SECOND cold, dangit! I'm worried if I don't keep posting I will forget how so today you get a more recent piece that fit in the scanner.

These aren't REALLY inchies, mine are more like 1-1/2 inches! This was a fun experiment in hand-coloring some papers. I used Easter egg dye on the first ones I tried but the pallet was too limited so I broke down and bought some tube watercolors. I diluted them to a transparent, watery consistency and brushed them on, working lightest to darkest. The papers are torn from foreign language books. I love the contrast of the black stamping on the colored background.The metal grid was some sort of match holder or something like that; made to hang on the wall. I used sheet metal snips to cut it apart then flattened it by crushing it in a vise and then hammering. It seemed to me like just the right amount of blue paint chipped off! I did use a file to debur the edges.

What's Old is New Again!

If you have read my profile you know I'm an avid "junker" - in fact it's just about my favorite thing to do. I found these postcards at an estate sale last month. The thing that really intrigued me about them is the postmarks on the back. The postmarks reveal they are all nearly 100 years old, and yet the art is so similar to the mixed media and "altered" art that is so popular today. Click on the image to get a larger view and you'll see what I mean. I speak to this because I sometimes feel frustrated that my ideas aren't new enough or fresh enough or look too much like what other people are making. None of us wants to copy someone else's art! I think it is nearly impossible, though, to not be influenced and inspired by what other people are making. Maybe it's really about making something someone else wants to "fill up their eyes" with. Maybe it's just about making something you want to fill up your own eyes with! Maybe what's old really does become new again!

The Book of Love

Our March weather was simply, well, March today... with rain most of the day. In spite of two errands to do after work I was lucky enough to arrive home to a break in the rain and a relatively bright sky. Perfect! I followed the advice in the Feb/Mar/Apr issue of Artful Blogging to take pictures outdoor in natural light and my husband coached me on using the digital camera. This is one of the first pieces I made when I discovered this genre. It is made in a shallow cigar box so doesn't lend itself to the scanner. The red circle is an advertising CD covered with tissue paper. Based on what happened with the scanned picture, I think Google will "size" it for me. We will see how my first attempt at posting a photo works out!

He was too good looking for his own good.

This is my first attempt at posting a picture. I made this piece in 2008. The picture is actually my Great Uncle Martin as a young boy. Even at this tender age you can already see he had that special something that set him apart. As an adult he was one of the best story tellers I have ever met and had sparkling blue eyes. When he told a story he could animate it with his expresions and gestures as if he was a player on a stage bringing the characters to life. I certainly don't have his capacity to "become the rabbit" but I like to think he played a part in my penchant for story telling. I will hope it will serve me well in my attempt at blogging!

At Last!

"At laaast...." (can you hear Etta James?)! In typical fashion I have started in the middle and now I'm backing up to the beginning. I have been published twice now in Somerset Studio with no blog in place to connect with the other artists out there, something I am so looking forward to. I recently received an email solicitation to submit to the new Green Craft magazine. I packed up a piece for entry then unpacked it when I finally found my much anticipated March/April edition of Somerset Studio. Jenny Doh's Letter from the Editor really resonated with me. Time to put my worries about the time it will take aside and just do it! I unpacked the Green Craft entry and committed to getting my blog started instead.
I will be posting some of my previous work (more back to beginning!) to fill in a little history and get some practice uploading the pictures. Random chatter to follow.......